During the soft opening, her order-at-the-counter café located at Mandela’s deli counter offers up to-go breakfast—yogurt parfaits, omelets, Beauty’s bagels, breakfast sandwiches on fresh-baked biscuits—plus soups, salads, and sandwiches for lunch. Come November, however, Knox plans to phase in entrée items that will be available from 4 to 8 p.m. to take home for dinner. Those will consist of a rotating selection of seasonal southern comfort dishes, including rotisserie chicken, turkey meatloaf, Shepherd’s pie, and grilled pork chops stuffed with apples, served with a variety of sides. CLICK HERE to check out the full menu.

Biscuit sandwiches. Photo: Mandela Co-op Facebook

It’s long been a dream to run her own cafe, says Knox, who started her catering business five years ago and began exploring opening in West Oakland last year. She says that the Mandela Co-op, which provides fresh produce to an area where that’s hard to find, is the ideal place to execute her business model of “Farm fresh food that feeds the soul.”

“It just seemed like the perfect fit; it’s a great place that offers fresh food and vegetables to the community, which is in line with my philosophy,” Knox says. “I thought it would be a symbiotic relationship, and so far it has been.”